This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Sharks this season.

Next meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 7 in Buffalo

Last meeting: San Jose defeated Buffalo 3-2 in Buffalo on Oct. 28, 2017

The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Sharks; 6-3-1 on the road

This is the 40th game all-time between Buffalo and San Jose; Buffalo has a 24-9-6 series record.

The Sabres are 7-7-5 on the road against the Sharks all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

The Sabres are 10-5-4 all-time on October 18.

October 18, 1970: Gerry Meehan scores the first ever Sabres goal at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium at 5:48 of the second period against Pittsburgh.

October 18, 2003: Mika Noronen stops all 20 Flames shots to record his second career shutout in a 2-0 Sabres win at Calgary.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Tonight's game is the third game of a five-game Pacific Division road trip that continues on Saturday at Los Angeles.

After San Jose came away with a pair of 3-2 wins last October, the Sabres are looking to avoid losing four straight games to the Sharks after having gone 10-0-1 in the previous 11 matchups between the teams.

Carter Hutton is 4-1-1 in his career against the Sharks, with a .955 save percentage and a 1.32 goals-against average.

Kyle Okposo has 14 points (5+9) in 12 career games against San Jose.

Jack Eichel has six points (1+5) in six career games against the Sharks, including at least a point in each of his last four.

Jeff Skinner has eight points (3+5) in his last eight games against San Jose.

Jason Pominville has points (3+2) in each of his last four games against San Jose.

Conor Sheary has three points (1+2) in three career games against the Sharks.

A FRESH FACE

On Oct. 4 vs. Boston, Rasmus Dahlin (18 years, 175 days) became the second-youngest player ever to appear in a game with the Sabres, behind only fellow No. 1 pick Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 41 days on Oct. 8, 1987 vs. Minnesota).

Dahlin skated 22:37 in his debut, marking the highest ice time recorded by a Sabres player making his NHL debut and the 21st-highest ice time by any NHL player in his first game since the league began tracking ice time in the 1997-98 season.

With his assist on Oct. 11 vs. Colorado, Dahlin became the second-youngest player (18 years, 175 days) in franchise history to record a point, behind only Turgeon (18 years, 44 days on Oct. 11, 1987 vs. Washington).

Dahlin scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 13 at Arizona, becoming the second-youngest player (18 years, 183 days) in franchise history to score, behind only Turgeon (Oct. 21, 1987 vs. Hartford).

He was the youngest defenseman in 23 years to score an NHL goal. His goal came exactly 34 years after Doug Bodger (18 years, 117 days) became the youngest defenseman in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to score his first NHL goal (Oct. 13, 1984).

With the goal, he also became the third-youngest defenseman in NHL history to record a game-winner, trailing only Craig Wolanin of the New Jersey Devils (12/9/85 at Minnesota) and Red Garrett of the New York Rangers (12/25/42 at Detroit).

CAPTAIN JACK

After being named captain on Oct. 3, Jack Eichel became the 19th full-season captain in franchise history and the 28th player to wear the captain's "C" for at least a one-month period for the Sabres.

At 21 years of age, Eichel is the youngest captain in Sabres history, passing Jim Schoenfeld, who served as the team's captain as a 23-year-old in the 1975-76 season.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres' league rankings before 10/17 games)

Hutton: 149 SV (7th)

Ristolainen: 25:31 TOI/GP (7th)

Sheary: 3 PPG (T-4th)

Ullmark: 1.000 SV% (T-1st), 0.00 GAA (T-1st), 1 SO (T-2nd)

BUF-SJS CONNECTIONSFormer Sabres:

Sharks assistant coach Dave Barr was on the coaching staff in Buffalo during the 2015-16 season.

Sharks F Evander Kane played for the Sabres for parts of four seasons (2014-2018). He played in 196 games for the club, recording 118 points (68+50).

Zach Bogosian:

Played with Sharks F and former Sabre Evander Kane in Atlanta and Winnipeg.

Played with Sharks goaltending coach Johan Hedberg in Atlanta.

Jack Eichel:

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer was an assistant coach for Team North America when Eichel played for the team during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Davis Payne:

Was an assistant coach for the Kings when Sharks G Martin Jones was playing in Los Angeles.

Marco Scandella:

Played with Sharks D Brent Burns in Minnesota. Sharks assistant coach Dave Barr was on the Wild's coaching staff when Scandella was on the team.